Man-made boards, such as fiberboard, e.g., hardboard; chipboard; oriented strand board-fiberboard composites; particle board; oriented strand board-particle board composites; and the like, may be formed into articles having contoured portions simulating stiles, rails, panels, or other desired features. Generally, such articles are formed from a planar cellulosic mat, and may include one or more interior depressions or raised contours simulating panels or other decorative features. For example, one method of manufacturing molded wood composite articles is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,234 to Lynch et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Such molded articles commonly are embossed downwardly on their intended visible major outer surface in the manufacture of interior paneling, exterior siding, cabinet and furniture doors, and door skins, such that the exterior surfaces, such as stiles and rails, are the highest structure of the embossed product. The formed depressions and contoured portions may replicate a natural wood paneled door. Doors having such molded door skins are much less expensive compared to a natural wood door.
The prior art discloses that it is difficult to reverse mold and to emboss deep draws into a fiberboard panel due to stretching and breaking of the fibers. A reverse molded fiberboard is stretched more on its visible outer surface than on its interior surface (i.e. the surface in contact with a raised mold surface) making reverse molding much more difficult when attempting to provide sharp, crisp design detail in a raised panel that simulates natural wood millwork.
As disclosed in the following U.S. patents, reverse molding and embossing deep draws into a fiberboard panel generally requires one or more of multiple press steps, post mold curing at elevated temperatures, a foil or high resin content outer surface portion, and/or high binder resin content of about 5-25%, preferably at least 10% by weight of the product: U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,813 Geimer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,265 Kiss; U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,797 Munk; 4,610,900 Nishibori; U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,224 Davis; U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,190 Schultz; U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,881 Schultz; U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,236 Davis; U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,188 Hansen; U.S. Pat. No. 4,844,968 Persson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,865,788 Davis; U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,548 Ikeda; U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,553 DeBruine; U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,302 Coggan; U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,374 Imao; U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,173 Coggan; 5,154,968 DePetris; U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,891 Bach; U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,325 Terada; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,402 Ruggie.
The cellulosic fibers used to form the loose mat, e.g. a 1 inch to 2 inch, preferably a 1½ or 1¾ inch, thick layer of cellulosic fibers having a specific gravity of, for example, 0.6, initially may be bone dry after the fibers have been dried and felted, but the cellulosic fibers in such mats absorb moisture from the atmosphere and generally include about 2% to about 10% moisture when molded via hot pressing, depending upon the humidity in the region where such mats are stored and/or manufactured.
The reverse molded panels of the present invention are particularly suitable as wainscot panels. The panels are reverse molded to provide a “profile up” configuration. The reverse molding approach permits mounting the panel directly against a wall versus the prior art method requiring “shim spacers” (see FIG. 6A), thereby promoting easy installation while integrating excellent aesthetics of a wainscot panel. Historic treatments of real wood wainscot are well established and very expensive. Beyond the multiple piece millwork of real wood, some gypsum and polymeric materials have been fabricated into wainscot panels, but are marginally commercially acceptable, partly because they do not have the feel or look of natural wood. There are no wood fiber composite reverse molded wainscot systems available that provide the ease of application that is achieved in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
With respect to conventional doors, molded door skins may be adhesively secured to a wood frame support structure to produce a finished door. Rails and stiles may also be used to provide additional structural support for the door. Such doors are well known in the art, and provide consumers with an aesthetically appealing, yet cost efficient alternative to traditional, solid wood doors.
A consumer may desire to replace an existing flat or flush door with a door having a contoured exterior surface. For example, a consumer may completely replace a door having a planar surface with a door having contoured molded door skins. However, this requires that the existing door be completely replaced. Often, the existing doorframe, door hinges and lock mechanism must also be replaced or modified, given the new replacement door may have different dimensions from the existing door. Similarly, if a consumer wants to replace a cabinet door or paneling, the pre-existing cabinet door or paneling must be completely replaced. Again, the new molded door or paneling may not have the proper dimensions for simple replacement. As such, structural modifications must be made, or the entire existing article must be replaced. For example, the dimensions of kitchen cabinets may be such that replacement of only the cabinet door is not possible. Thus, the entire cabinet may need to be replaced. Such complete replacement is often expensive, and can be cost prohibitive for many consumers.
Various attempts to provide consumers with a cost efficient alternative to complete replacement of a planar door or other article have been made. In one such attempt, a molded plastic panel is provided, which is adhesively secured to a face of a conventional flat plywood door. Such plastic panels generally include an interior planar portion, surrounded by a contoured portion. The interior portion of the panel is secured to the door face. Often, a gap or parting line is created between the outer perimeter of the contoured portion and the door face, which is aesthetically unacceptable for many consumers.
In an attempt to minimize the gap between the panel and door face, a bead of caulk is often required to eliminate the gap. However, this may not present a satisfactory appearance. The caulk often dries and cracks over time, and therefore must be maintained and/or replaced periodically. In addition, the caulk may not match the color of the door face and/or panel. Furthermore, the caulk usually has a different texture and surface appearance compared to the plastic panel and the plywood door face. Therefore, even if the panel and door are painted, the surface appearance is often unsatisfactory for many consumers. Thus, such panels do not provide an acceptable alternative for many consumers.
Other attempts to provide an acceptable alternative to complete replacement provide for wood composite panels or skins that may be secured to a planar surface, such as a molded wood composite door skin or wainscot paneling. Although such wood composite articles provide some advantages over plastic molded panels, all of the above noted problems with plastic panels are not overcome. Specifically, the outer perimeter of molded wood composite panels may develop a gap or parting line with the contact surface. The wood composite article and/or the planar contact surface (such as a planar door face) may warp or sag over time, thereby creating a parting line. Adhesively securing such panels may provide an adequate adhering force for retaining the panel to the planar surface generally, but there is no tensioning force maintaining the outer perimeter of the panel to the planar surface. Thus, a parting line often develops.
Therefore, there is a need for a molded panel component that may be secured to an existing planar surface, which has an aesthetically acceptable appearance for consumers. There is also a need for a molded panel component that is tensioned to the planar surface, which maintains an adhering force tensioning the panel component to the planar surface.